Section 11.31 Powers of Governmental Participant

• Library: Local Government Deskbook (2017 Ed.)

2. (§11.31) Powers of Governmental Participant

One of the most significant limitations on intergovernmental cooperation is the requirement that “the subject and purposes of any such contract or cooperative action made and entered into by such municipality or political subdivision shall be within the scope of the powers of such municipality or political subdivision.” Section 70.220.1, RSMo 2016. This enabling statute makes clear the implicit requirement in the Missouri Constitution that local governments can utilize cooperative agreements only for the pursuit of a legitimate end.

While this limitation is easy to recite, its application has proven difficult. Courts and commentators originally opined that this limitation requires each participant in a cooperative agreement to have the authority to perform each and every provision within the agreement. Wendell E. Koerner, Jr., Comment, Interlocal Cooperation: The Missouri Approach, 33 Mo. L. Rev. 442, 444 (1968); see Sch. Dist. of Kansas City v. Kansas City, 382 S.W.2d 688, 696 (Mo. banc 1964); St. Louis Hous. Auth. v. City of St. Louis, 239 S.W.2d 289, 293 (Mo. banc 1951). While requiring that intergovernmental agreements contain only provisions that every participant could independently perform might provide some certainty in the effect of this limitation, it would severely limit many of the potential benefits available to municipalities that cooperation, by its very nature, affords. See Comment, Interlocal Cooperation: The Missouri Approach, 33 Mo. L. Rev. at 444.

More recent Missouri cases have rejected a strict interpretation of the “equal powers”...